Uncle Tupelo

Produced by REM guitarist Peter Buck, the politically biting, ominous song cycle of this group's mostly acoustic third LP solidifies their stature as uncompromising and original founders of a new hybrid of American music -- even if the scale here tips considerably toward the latter half of the punk/country fusion. Considering that it was released during the ascent of the grunge movement, the acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolins and shuffling tunes make a powerfully original statement that still resonates with untold social and musical awareness.

Uncle Tupelo crawled out of the factory town of Belleville, Illinois, in 1987 with what
turned out to be one of the most durable ideas of the modern-rock era: using loud, fervent
guitars to support the churchgoing earnestness of hillbilly songs. By the time the band
dissolved, four studio albums later, songwriters Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy -- who went on
to found Son Volt and Wilco, respectively -- had helped spark the thriving alt-co... More >